2 Kings 2:1-2,6-14 Last week we were with Elijah on Mount Horeb listening to the Lord in the silence…when Elijah came to know that he was not actually alone as he had thought. There were thousands more doing the same work he was doing. He heard from the Lord that he should find a man called Elisha, son of Shaphat of Abel-mehola, and anoint him prophet. Elisha would be the one to take Elijah’s place. So Elijah went off in search of Elisha. He found him out plowing a field. Elijah walked by the other man and threw his mantle over him. Elisha stepped away from the plow and followed him. And from that point on they were a pair – teacher and disciple. Until the day when Elijah’s time was up. It seems they both knew it. In fact, it seems like everyone knew; the company of prophets […]
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Love in Action
1 Corinthians13:1-13 Luke 4:21-30 If you are like me, these words from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians make you feel warm and cozy and sweet; Valentine hearts and weddings and celebrations of love. But I don’t think either Paul or the Corinthians felt that way. Let me tell you a little bit about the Corinthians. Paul made his way to Corinth during his traveling evangelist years, by way of Athens, which was apparently the original ivory tower city. In Athens, Paul discovered how much the people there enjoyed an intellectual discussion of ideas. He offered them a very creative and compelling case for Christ, they sparred back and forth with him for a while. And at the end of the day, they said, “Good argument, Paul. Enjoyed it thoroughly. Maybe we’ll come back and do it again tomorrow.” An outcome that might very well have left Paul feeling a […]
Continue readingWhere Everybody Knows Your Name
Isaiah 43:1-7 Luke 3:15-17,21-22 There is a pretty good chance you know the origin of the sermon title: “Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came.” It’s the theme song from the old TV show Cheers. Set in a Boston bar called Cheers. There was a crew of regulars who appeared in every episode. One of them, Norm Peterson, would always walk through the door and be greeted with a chorus saying, “Norm!” Then Norm would go sit down on his regular seat at the end of the bar. The place where everybody knows his name. It’s great to have a place like that. On some level, we all long for a place where everybody knows our name. Someplace where you feel comfortable, where you have friends. It might be a coffee shop, a bar, a barbershop, the YMCA. It is a place where […]
Continue readingWho We Are
Mark 1:4-11 I always love this Sunday. The baptism of the Lord. It always comes the Sunday following Epiphany. It’s the one day of the year that we intentionally remember that Jesus was baptized by John, and that we are also called to be baptized into his family. For me, it’s always a treasured opportunity to talk with you about why we baptize, what it means to us. It’s easy to forget about baptism, really. Every new Christian is meant to be baptized, but we do it so infrequently that we seldom think of it. We all get baptized, but only once. And if you were baptized as an infant, as most of us were, you don’t even have any memory of it. Some people don’t even know for sure if they were baptized. Which is interesting to me. It says to me that baptism is sometimes a rather meaningless […]
Continue readingLove and Happiness
Mark 1:4-11 There are a few passages from scripture that are so well known and loved that they almost become etched on our hearts. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want,” is one of them. “For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten Son,” is another. These are special; no one should mess with these. “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” is also one of these, I think. But when I read this story of the baptism of Jesus in the Common English Bible translation, it had me in a whole new way. “You are my Son, whom I dearly love; in you I find happiness.” What beautiful language. Maybe not poetic in the way that the King James Bible is poetic, but clear and direct and beautiful in its message to us. You are my Son, whom I dearly love. In you I […]
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